New kick-off times on matchday 33

Updated on 4/22/2022 at 9:51 am

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• On Matchday 33, the nine Bundesliga games will no longer all take place on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
• Instead, there are six different kick-off times spread over the entire weekend.
• Does the Premier League serve as a model here?

More current news about the Bundesliga can be found here

The Bundesliga is entering the home stretch. A look at the Bundesliga schedule will, however, cause astonishment for some football traditionalists, as in recent years matchdays 33 and 34 in the Bundesliga and 2nd division have been played in parallel, i.e. all nine games took place at the same time. But this season, the league is breaking with that tradition – at least in part. Because while the 34th matchday takes place in parallel, also for competitive reasons, the 33rd matchday will be played as a “normal matchday” with six kick-off times for nine games.

Bundesliga achieves more TV revenues by splitting the 33rd match day

But why is there a break with the Bundesliga tradition this season? Prior to this season, the moving image rights to the Bundesliga were reassigned and as part of this reassignment, which ended with 1.1 billion euros per year in TV revenue for the Bundesliga, the match schedule on Matchday 33 was also changed.

Because the Bundesliga benefits the most when as many games as possible are played at different times. If all games are played at the same time, many teams and games end up under the radar of the public and only a few teams attract broad public interest.

In order to counteract this and to be able to keep the tension high over the entire weekend, the 33rd matchday was made into a “normal” Bundesliga weekend. There was already a small exception in 2019, when Frankfurt were allowed to play their game against Mainz 05 on Sunday due to their success in the Europa League.

DFL does not comment on the split

When our editorial staff asked the DFL about the reasons for this change in a decades-old tradition, there was no answer.

As understandable as the step is from a financial point of view, a piece of football history in Germany is lost, because most football fans associate a special memory or story with the last two matchdays. Dramatic radio conferences or, later, exciting nine-game conferences on pay TV, where the weal and woe of an entire season could already be decided on matchday 33. At the same time nervous glances at mobile phones and live tickers in the stadium, how things are going with the direct competition.

Premier League as a role model?

The 2000/01 season, for example, is unforgettable, when Schalke 04 conceded the 0-1 goal at VfB Stuttgart in the 90th minute on matchday 33. The Royal Blues lost the lead to Bayern and a week later were only the four-minute champions before Patrik Andersson scored for Bayern in Hamburg.

All the moments of special excitement in a direct long-distance duel will only be available on the 34th matchday in the future. A model that has been common in the Premier League for some time, for example, and where only a few games are played at the same time anyway, but are spread over the entire week. A development that could continue to progress in the Bundesliga, even if the unloved Monday games are off the table for the time being.

The 33rd matchday of the 2021/22 season at a glance:

Friday, May 6, 8:30 p.m

VfL Bochum – Arminia Bielefeld

Saturday, May 7, 3:30 p.m

TSG Hoffenheim – Bayer Leverkusen
Greuther Furth – Borussia Dortmund
SC Freiburg – Union Berlin
1. FC Cologne – VfL Wolfsburg

Saturday, May 7, 6:30 p.m

Hertha BSC vs FSV Mainz 05

Sunday, May 8, 3:30 p.m

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Monchengladbach

Sunday, May 8, 5:30 p.m

FC Bayern Munich – VfB Stuttgart

Sunday, May 8, 7:30 p.m

RB Leipzig – FC Augsburg

used Sources:

• Bundesliga.de: Schedule for the 33rd match day of the Bundesliga
• Dw.com: Bundesliga earns “only” 1.1 billion euros in media rights

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